Unveiling the Most Costly Error Leaders Make While Striving for Transparent Communication with Employees

If you’ve watched HBO’s “Silicon Valley” or NBC’s “The Office,” you’ve witnessed numerous instances of obnoxious aggression and manipulative insecurity displayed by leaders.

It’s crucial to note that real-life managers should not try to imitate Michael Scott or the command-and-control culture portrayed on television. Instead, leaders should strive for what former Apple and Google executive Kim Scott refers to as the radical candor approach, which involves demonstrating personal care while providing direct challenges.

Although the concept is simple, Scott explained during an interview with CNBC Senior Media & Tech Reporter Julia Boorstin at the recent Disruptor 50 Connect event in San Francisco that she considers it radical because it can be challenging to show care while simultaneously challenging a colleague.

“It’s uncommon for us to do both simultaneously, particularly when it comes to work feedback, but truly feedback in any aspect of your life,” Scott said. “It’s a source of existential dread.”

Overcoming the fear of providing honest feedback

This fear often prevents leaders from providing feedback that falls within the radical candor category. Instead, they resort to three forms of negative feedback outlined by Scott in her book “Radical Candor”: obnoxious aggression, insincere praise, and unkindly delivered feedback; ruinous empathy, which attempts to spare someone’s feelings in the short term but does not provide them with the necessary information; or manipulative insincerity, which includes actions like backstabbing or passive aggressiveness and is considered the worst form of feedback failure.

Scott highlighted the challenge for CEOs and leaders in finding a balance between being “compassionately candid without being ruinously empathetic,” a problem that can be solved by actively seeking feedback.

“At the core of radical candor is a strong relationship between managers and employees, peers, and all directions,” she said. “It’s about building good relationships. Few things are more detrimental to a good relationship than a power imbalance, so if you hold power, I recommend learning how to set it aside, learning how to ask for feedback, and demonstrating that it is not only safe for them to express their true thoughts, but that they will be rewarded for doing so.”

Striking the balance between toughness and fairness

In the midst of recent leadership scandals and broader societal changes, leaders may worry about upsetting employees when providing more direct feedback. However, that should not be an excuse for poor communication, according to Scott.

“What’s happening now is that we’ve suddenly become aware of things we should have been aware of all along, but we weren’t. As a result, people have resorted to manipulative insincerity, where they neither show care nor provide challenges,” Scott explained. “They are so preoccupied with their reputation as leaders that they choose to say nothing. I frequently hear from CEOs who say they won’t give feedback to certain individuals on their team because ‘I will get in trouble with HR.'”

Scott asserted that it requires leaders who are willing to “challenge directly, even beyond their comfort zone,” while also being mindful of how their words are received.

“Despite what you might see on social media, most of us genuinely care about others, but we are so afraid of upsetting or offending them that we fail to share information that could benefit them,” she said.